AGP - Gravin' with Auntie, Part 3

In the picture above: Arthur Ethridge, holding Britney Ethridge's sholder, wife, Jennifer Ethridge and daugher Heather. . Jennifer is holding Bandit the dog and in red jacket is my Aunt......

"GOOD PEOPLE AWARD"

Aunt is Nancy Jane Sharp Odom, my Dad's last living sibling. She was born and raised in the Sharp/Lawrence Counties area on the old SHARP land....when she was about 8 or so they moved on part of the Roe land...her mother was a Roe. She came from the 3rd marriage of my Grandfather, her father. My father was from the first marriage. She went to business school after high school graduation and then to Washington, DC when she worked and retired from the State Department. Returned to Arkansas with her busband, Bob Odom and they live on a farm near Black Rock, Lawrence Coutny, Arkansas.

Aunt and I have been "gravin" together for several years...The most memoriable trip was the summer of 2002 when we drove over 7,000 miles back to Pennsylvania. We covered about 10 states and took gravestone pictures in each state, but one, of our SHARP ancestors graves. We are direct descendents of Ephraim Sharp for whom Sharp County was named.

"Gravin" has been our hobby for all these years....hunting them down and photographing them. This May we spent our time in the older, some almost forgotten cemeteries of Lawrence County. Tom Helms, CC for Lawrence County and State Co-coordinator for AGP sent us maps to help us locate the old cemeteries in the back roads of Lawrence County, Arkansas.

Thus we begin the story for this day in May 2008. Aunt and I were on the hunt for the old Mount Zion Cemetery near Saffell, Lawrence County, Arkansas. It was a hot and balmy day, and it made you sweat if you were from the dry heat of West Texas.

We drove up and down dirt roads looking for the place marked on the map that Tom Helms had provided for us.....Usually there is not a lot of need for a map,,,Aunt knows every nook and crannie of this area of Arkansas and has been in most every known cemetery in that area.....but this day was different...the "Finger Method" we usually use was not going to work on locating Mount Zion. Aunt can point her finger right, left or straight forward and that is the way I drive...never need a lot of talk or directions...just her trusty pointing finger will take us to where we need to go. But, today, she was holding the map and trying to co-pilot us to our destination....we had passed no traffic and there were no houses for us to stop and ask directions...just quiet, lovely woods surrounding us as we drove the dirt County Road.

We turned around a couple of times and back tracked. Almost ready to give up...we saw a car coming...we waved it down. It was a family, mom and dad and 2 kids and an adorable dog. I asked if they had any idea where the Mount Zion Cemetery was....Why, yes, it is on our land...follow us and we did. This lovely young couple had recently purchased a large parcel of land the cemetery was on part of the land...as we approached a farm gate and turned in we saw the new sign that they had erected...(see above)...they were so gracious and the Dad, Arthur went into the cemetery with me and the mom stayed in the car with my Aunt...Arthur would walk ahead and find the stones and dig some out of the underbrush.

It took about 2 hours and it was certainly Arkansas hot by then.....we thanked them and they gave us their cell numbers and a lot of good advice on the back roads...but more than that, they called 2 other people who had cemeteries on their property and made arrangements for us to come on another day to photodraph the sites...thus we found our way another day in the Polston Cemetery with Dr. Hal...due to their good help.....may never see them again..but we will not forget how in the middle of a backroad with no traffic the very person we needed drove to us and that is what good people do...HELP others. You may view the cemetery on their land in Lawrence County, Mt. Zion at Saffell...

(If you find spelling errors just laugh and go on)

Gravin' with Auntie - Part 3